Mumbai: A year on.....

A kid shouted, "No school today!", just as I picked up the newspaper on 27-Nov. I wondered why, but only for a few seconds. The news of the terrorist attack was still sketchy, but no less alarming. I almost ran to my office to follow it on the internet. India was going through the greatest crisis in its recent history. It was sickening, made-for-TV act. No hostages, no demands, only the spectacle of a nihilistic ideology.

A few hours later a colleague of mine said, "kill the terrorists first, worry about the hostages later!". I was furious, but could only mutter "You would say that, wouldn't you." While we receded into our plush offices and gated communities (most of which ask "Why go out?"), India was going to hell.

I contrast this with another incident of similar magnitude, The Parliament Attack in 2001. That was a time India bayed for blood, resulting in largest troop mobilization in our history. As Steve Coll later pointed out, the amount of evidence India produced would be sufficient for a country like the US to go to war. But India is not the US or Israel. Our border with Pakistan is a reality, geographically, politically and historically.

The lasting effect of Mumbai may not be the anger it generated, but restraint which typified our response. Whatever anger, was directed at our own complacent elites. The subsequent editorials contained some of the best opinion pieces in recent times. In a strange way almost every politician held responsible, was rehabilitated. The buck simply did not stop.

For a country surrounded by tar-pits of right and left wing extremism, this is a moment of self-evaluation. As Pratap Bhanu Mehta asked "how can a people who have much to be proud of, be endowed with a state that has much to be embarrassed about?" Mumbai maybe just another example of how the idea of India is constrained by the Indian state.

I had an epiphany

Sitting at 2600m in a meadow, I stared into the sun. I now know what Searle meant:

"You and the darkness are distinct from each other because darkness is an absence of something, it's a vacuum. But total light envelops you. It becomes you."

Pindari Glacier Trek: Short Itinerary

(Click on the links "Day *" to read a travelogue of the day.)

Day1 : Reach Kathgodam early morning. Start to Saung by taxi, takes close 7 hrs. Then go to Loharkhet KMVN, we took another taxi due a broken bridge. Stay overnight at Loharkhet KMVN.

Day2: Start to Dhakauri/Khati. Uphill climb from Loharkhet to Dhakauri takes 4.5 hrs (approx 11 km). After lunch start to Khati. Dhakauri to Khati takes around 3 hrs, mostly downhill (approx 8 km). Breath taking sights to mountains and meadows. Stay overnight at Khati, huge number of hotels/dhabas.

Day3: Start to Dwali from Khati. Long but not so difficult walk for around 5 hrs (apporx 11 km). Stay at Dwali overnight at KMVN.

Day4: Assault for Pindari Zero-Point. Dwali to Phurkiya is a slightly uphill trek, takes 2 hrs (apporx 5 km). Have breakfast at Phurkiya. From Phurkiya to Zero-Point long walk for close to 2.5 hrs (apporx 11 km). Reach Baba's place, get some rest and make the final attempt for Zero-Point which is about 1 Km uphill. By now we were very tired, but the view was breathtaking. Some snaps and we started our way back. Reached back Dwali by 4:30pm (we started in the morning at 6 am). Long and ardorous day of 24 km walking. Start early to make sure you can the views without too many clouds.

Day5: Coming back to Dhakauri from Dwali. Dwali to Khati descent will take 3 hrs. We had lunch at Khati and reached Dhakauri in 4 hrs. It was raining all the way from Khati->Dhakauri, combined with uphill climbing took us 4 hrs.

Day6: Get back from Dhakauri to Sauing via Loharkhet. Catch taxi in Saung for Kathgodam.

Some Suggestions:
1) On Day 3 you can reach Phurkiya directly instead of waiting at Dwali. But you may need advance booking for KMVN. Staying at Phurkiya will allow you to reach zero-point early and spend some significant time there.

2) Day4 you can start at Phurkiya, reach zero-point and get back to Dwali. Saves time.

3) Take a slow trek from Dhakauri to Khati (or reverse). Clear skies offer some breathtaking views of mountains Baljauri, NandaKhet, Sundardunga, Mektel etc.

District 9

Sci-Fi movies (the good ones at any rate) generally oscillate between mundane action and metaphysics. Rare is a movie that combines genuine dystopia with high-octane action, stark realism of modern cities and socio-political challenges. The only other movie that comes to mind is Alfonso Curaon's Children of Men. For once, thankfully, the aliens of District 9 don't land in the US, but in a post-apartheid Johannesburg.

Neil Blomkamp's aliens of District 9 are not particularly smart, they have no aim or purpose on earth and live as scavengers. As it happens so often in such cases, they are rounded up in a slum and forced to live among crime, poverty and deplorable conditions. To write more of the story, would be to give away too much. I'd rather delve into the film's directorial prowess.

Blomkamp's docu-drama like realism of a grimy, claustrophobic slum populated by aliens, crime addicted gangsters and an economy of simple scavenging is remniscent of Slumdog Millionaire and City of God. But the director's real genius is not his portrayal of a slum, but his ability to transcend this reality and look into socio-political issues like the world of private armies and governments conceding administrative space to large private organization and the simple impunity that "Us versus Them" offers. Blomkamp doesn't stop there, he even delves into the human emotions of Kafka-esque Metamorphosis.

The movie runs with a feverish pace even while keeping the big picture in sight. You don't have to be a Sci-Fi enthusiast to enjoy District 9, you just have to appreciate good movies.

Kamineyyyy

You walk out of the threatre and think, "Wait a minute! Why has no one thought of this before?" We were made to believe in the world of technicolor dreams, of eastman color locales, of flash-backs in sepia, of dancing ladies and happy families. We never saw this in real life and somehow it was make-belive (Jo bhi soye hai khabron mein unko jagaana nahi.). But not for Vishal Bhardwaj such happy-yuppy world. His world is grisly, grimy, ugly, grotesque and fascinating.

Bharadwaj populates Mumbai's slums with all kinds of sidey, insidious charecters, each one pursuing his own goals and agendas. They are Bengalis mafia men, Marathi goons-turned-politicians, African diamond traders, crooked cops and drug dealers. Thrown in to this mix are two twins. Ah! The twins, probably bollywood's second most loved concept (usurped of their first place recently by those NRI heroes). Charlie and Guddu played by Shahid Kapoor. One has a lifp and the other ftammerf. Charlie believes a person is not defined by the road he takes, but by the one he doesn't. Guddu has it all planned out, sex in 2009, marriage in 2014.

So what happens when Charlie has something all those sidey charecters would love to get their hands on........ Dhan te nan, te ne ne na…. Yep its all there, romance, fights, tragedies, sacrifice and even a video game like shoot out. This is one movie that we can call "Bollywood Cool".

Love in the time of Swine-flu

Life Lessons from Swine-Flu

1) Panic is more contagious than flu virus: In a nation of a billion, and an increasingly violent one, 20 deaths shouldn't worry anyone. But it does and we are suddenly a nation of mask wearers.

2) Everyone and Baba Ramdev has an opinion: Baba Ramdev, in his usual inane way, declared Swine-Flu could be cured by yoga. Even that brash up-start Sri Ravi Shankar (of Art of Living fame) declared it could be cured by Ayurveda.

3) News channels can be critical and silly at the same time: Swine-Flu panic was created by News channels, period. But they can also hold a debate of whether 'we' are over-reacting. In reality it is 'they' who over-react, create a panic and then try to be critical.